Origin: Scotland
Type: Blended Malt Scotch Whisky
Chillfiltered: No
Added colouring: No
Owner: J.G. Thomson & Co. ltd
Official website: jgthomson.com
A label created in 2021 that takes its name from a famous late 18th-century Scottish merchant (James Gibson Thomson) based in the Leith area of Edinburgh, in the very Vaults where the Scotch Malt Whisky Society is now based, who imported wine and brandy from Europe while producing and exporting his own whiskies abroad (notably to the United States), eventually owning three warehouses and his own cooperage. A fortune that lasted almost two centuries, until the last bottling in 1964.
The modern incarnation was created at the behest of The Artisanal Spirits Company, owners of SMWS, and offers gin, rum and, of course, whisky in blended form, divided into two main categories: the three NAS blended malts identified by profile (Smoky, Rich and Sweet, designed for mixology), two blended malts with declared age (23yo and 27yo) and one blended grain, the 1972 Sweet.
J.G. Thomson Sweet Blended Malt Batch No:01
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: New
Average price: € 50.00
A mixture of new casks, toasted to different depths, with the tops of some casks extra toasted, made up of Highland and Speyside malts. Subsequent batches have increased the strength to 46.5%ABV.
Tasting Notes
50 shades of apples on the nose, from crisp red to baked and strudel apples, including cinnamon, sultanas and pine nuts with puff pastry. Plenty of nutmeg with almonds, Williams pear distillate, acacia honey, propolis, vanilla and a distinct balsamic vein, particularly evident along the length. Resin. The apotheosis of new casks, with a certain pleasantness.
Ginger and cinnamon greet the palate, together with a freshness between citrus (mandarin) and balsamic/vegetable. Light-bodied, but not too much, it takes a while to open up, bringing in almonds with nuts, chocolate, apple, peach, coconut, honey, liquorice root, vanilla, brown sugar. A hint of toasted wood.
Long and slightly spicy finish with citrus, propolis, apple, nuts and balsamic notes.
A wise use of new casks, which, despite the lack of consistency, manage to create an original and interesting profile, with the sweetness promised by the name, without excess and well calibrated.
Vote: 83/100
J.G. Thomson Rich Blended Malt Batch No:01
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Sherry
Average price: € 50.00
A sherry bomb, as defined by the producer, which is the result of blending former sherry casks, including Oloroso and PX, in European and American woods, including butt, hogshead and quarter casks. This first batch is 46% abv, the second (pictured) is 46.5% abv.
Tasting Notes
On the nose it lives up to its promise, the Sherry is all there, rough and dark as expected. Dried apricots, sour cherries, blackberries, sultanas, red berry plum cake, cinnamon and a hint of nutmeg line up, while blood orange, baked apple and almonds echo in the background. In lenght, young balsamic vinegar. Linear.
In the mouth it’s rather light, the spices (with the addition of black pepper and ginger) stand out on fleeting notes of red fruit, sweet liquorice, nuts, citrus (between orange and pink grapefruit) and a hint of baked apple, which soon give way to vegetal notes of green tea and tobacco leaves, with an increasingly bitter aftertaste.
The aftertaste is quite short, with spices, red fruits, baked apple, liquorice, citrus and vegetal notes.
Fragrant but lacking in body, a blend that fades quickly but will probably find its raison d’être in mixology.
Vote: 80/100
J.G. Thomson Smoky Blended Malt Batch No:01
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry
Average price: € 50.00
Islay malts aged in ex-bourbon and ex-sherry PX casks, both butts and hogsheads.
Tasting Notes
The nose is very woody, with resin, pine needles and sandalwood, and the smoke is definitely in the direction of a bonfire, if not on the beach, then close by, given the presence of coastal notes. Citrus, also candied (orange, cedar), cooked apples and pears, spices (nutmeg, cinnamon), liquorice powder, prunes. With time, the iodine gets stronger, along with a hint of tyre. The interplay of ingredients reminds me of Caol Ila and Staoisha, in any case a fine example of Islay.
On the palate, it is rather sweet, with notes of pastry (lemon cream, short pastry, caramelised fruit, sugared almonds), nuts (almonds, hazelnuts), baked apple and candied fruit (pineapple, citrus, coconut). The peat, between earthy and marine, is confirmed, with fleshy and toasted incursions and scattered spices (black pepper, ginger, cinnamon), all in a light but not ethereal body. The tones are balanced and not shrill, under the banner of peaty pleasantness.
Rather long and dry finish, with spice, citrus, mineral and saline notes, used ashtray, burnt cake and medicinal notes.
A perfectly successful Islay handbook, which in its simplicity offers what you expect, without a lot of frills and straight to the point.
Vote: 84/100
J.G. Thomson Rich 23yo Blended Malt
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry
Average price: € 150.00
Speyside blended malt, from ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry (Oloroso and PX) casks.
Tasting Notes
A Speyside juice in an overtly fruity form, with peach, mango and apricot dominating, followed closely by red fruits (wild strawberry, blackcurrant, raspberry), apple, candied pineapple and white plums. The pastries are no less impressive, including toffee, lemon tart, acacia honey and sweet liquorice with a touch of meringue. A hint of spices (cinnamon and nutmeg) completes the picture, quite opulent and delicious, constant in intensity, if perhaps a little static.
On the palate, it sacrifices much of its sweetness on the altar of sherry, giving more prominence to red fruits, with a charge of redcurrants, raspberries and cherries in spirit, herbal notes (green tea, tobacco leaves) and spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, aniseed). Baked apple, honey, custard and meringue remain in the background, providing contrast and depth to the dram.
The finish is fairly long and spicy with red fruit, apple, vegetable and pastry notes.
A fine example of a Speysider, but lacking that extra gear to go beyond the pleasantness, finding richness and depth in the glass in a dram that is, however, static and unexciting.
Vote: 84/100
J.G. Thomson Rich 1996 27yo Blended Malt Batch 02
Strength: 46%ABV
Ageing casks: Ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry
Average price: € 150.00
Similar composition to 23yo, still Speyside malts from ex-Bourbon and ex-Sherry casks between oloroso and PX.
Tasting Notes
Compared to the previous one, the fruit is still dominant, but with a greater incidence of the red component, which gives a distinct roughness and acidity to the nose. Peach, apple and mango are well represented, sharing the stage with currants, raspberries, blackberries and dried goji berries, washed down by pink grapefruit with lemon zest. At the base is pastry with trifle, butter cream, cinnamon, pistachios and praline almonds. Slightly veined, especially in the length, by green tea and old wood. Persistent.
On the palate, the Sherry is back in the foreground, with a pronounced peppery and lively gingeriness framing the evocations of the nose, but in a softer and more refined way, losing much of the roughness to go the confectionery route (Sacher cake, Black Forest), while retaining the citrus notes of grapefruit combined with an impression of maraschino cherries. Almonds, nuts, honey, cherry pits and a light salty note complete the picture.
The finish is quite long with spices, nuts, cherries in alcohol, citrus, custard, old wood and vegetable afflatus.
A clear leap forward from its younger sibling, here we find a complexity and richness that satisfies and entertains, leaving only the doubt that a firmer (not too much) alcohol strength would have given it more body.
Vote: 87/100